The Gazette
Eastern Ont., Que. reeling from severe storm systems
CanWest News Service
Published: Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Two people died, several were injured and thousands remained without power Tuesday evening after severe storms cut a wide swath of damage across eastern Ontario and Quebec late Monday.
Thunder storms accompanied by high winds downed trees and hydro lines and blocked or washed out highways. Several communities declared states of emergency.
The two who were killed were campers who died in separate incidents when trees fell on top of them.
Louise Clayton, 42, of Guelph, Ont., was killed when a large tree fell onto the camping trailer she and her family were sleeping in around 11 p.m. ET Monday at a campsite 25 minutes northeast of Peterborough, Ont.
Her husband escaped with their three young children and called 911, said Const. Iain McEwan of Peterborough County OPP.
Fallen trees and branches littered the area, and a major road was closed after at least 10 hydro poles were downed, McEwan said.
Camp leader Jeff Grey, 26, of Michigan, died Monday evening after a tree fell on the tent he was in a recreational area in Algonquin Park, and 19-year-old Aaron Lebovick, also from Michigan, was seriously injured in the same incident, according to OPP in North Bay, Ont.
Lebovick was airlifted via helicopter to hospital in North Bay, and later flown to Toronto for further treatment.
In Ottawa, a 14-year-old boy who had gone missing from a youth camp was found and was in hospital Tuesday evening. Additional injuries were reported from locations throughout the region.
Environment Canada received numerous reports of trees down, highways blocked or washed out, and power outages, and a number of small communities in the North Bay area declared states of emergency, said spokesperson Rebecca Wagner.
The city of North Bay reported early Tuesday that 90 per cent of its power was out. By evening, as much as 50 per cent of the city remained in the dark, according to North Bay OPP.
A historic lighthouse was destroyed and two radio towers knocked over in a small town south of North Bay, according to CBC News.
Mattawa Mayor Dean Backer declared a state of emergency for his town as a result of severe damage to homes and businesses. Mattawa remained without power Tuesday evening.
Damage reports have come from as far west as Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and as far east as Quebec City. A wind gust of 128 km/h was recorded at Killarney Park, Ont., near Manitoulin Island.
Four teams of storm investigators were dispatched by Environment Canada.
Ontario utility Hydro One said 90,000 customers remained without power late Tuesday afternoon, and said it could take as long as three days to restore power in some areas. Another 80,000 customers had been without power earlier in the day.
The utility reported that high winds, downed trees and lightning resulted in ``substantial damage to lines, poles and other hydro equipment.''
The worst-hit areas, including Nippissing, Manitoulin, Newmarket, Fenelon Falls, Peterborough and Cobden, could be without power until late Thursday.
Hydro One crews were planning to work throughout Tuesday night.
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=4e02cef2-ce41-4732-b441-ae0c52d68898&k=91102
U.S. no-fly list mistakenly snagging dozens of Canadian travellers
Jim Bronskill, Canadian Press
Published: Wednesday, July 19, 2006
OTTAWA (CP) - Dozens of Canadians have formally complained about being delayed at airports because their name - or at least one similar to theirs - turned up on the U.S. no-fly list.
In the last two years, Transport Canada has received "some 40 to 50 complaints" from people whose names may have been matched to the U.S. roster, said department spokeswoman Vanessa Vermette.
In the absence of a Canadian no-fly list, domestic airlines have been screening passengers against the U.S. one, believed to include about 70,000 people.
It has resulted in at least two federal MPs - Liberal Bill Graham and New Democrat Pat Martin - running into security holdups at airports.
But until now there has been little indication of just how many people have been snagged because they have a name that matches one on the U.S. no-fly roster.
An Air Canada spokeswoman refused to answer questions, saying, "we do not discuss matters of security publicly."
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=6b9e838d-773c-4b4b-8527-7292b51b4602&k=17990
Canadian troops occupy Taliban-burned school and hospital
Ethan Baron, CanWest News Service; Vancouver Province
Published: Wednesday, July 19, 2006
HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Canadian troops braced for rocket attacks Tuesday after occupying a United Nations-built school and hospital that the Taliban had burned and vandalized.
An estimated 30 to 50 Taliban chased off about 40 Afghan national police from the small village of Nawa, located 100 kilometres southwest of Kandahar, on Monday evening.
Villagers told Canadian soldiers the Taliban burned the school in the evening, held a prayer and left.When the Taliban are in the area, they sleep in hidden spots among the orchards, villagers said.
When the Canadian A Company arrived Tuesday afternoon with several platoons of U.S. soldiers, books and chairs were still smouldering in a number of school rooms, and shards of smashed window glass crunched beneath the soldiers' boots.
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=f0fb10ec-e18c-4c5b-a0cd-1c06602a3748&k=91172
Israeli troops clash with Hezbollah guerrillas
A Lebanese man reacts after he inspected his truck that was destroyed when a convoy of trucks was targeted before dawn by Israeli warplanes, in Hadath, Lebanon, Wednesday, July 19, 2006.
Hussein Dakroub, Associated Press
Published: Wednesday, July 19, 2006
BEIRUT -- Israeli troops clashed with Hezbollah guerrillas on the Lebanese side of the border Wednesday, while warplanes flattened 20 buildings and killed at least 19 people, officials said, as fighting entered its second week.
The Israeli army confirmed there were clashes with Hezbollah in the border area and that some Israelis had suffered casualties. The army would not elaborate.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar television channel reported that two Israeli soldiers had been killed and three wounded, but that could not be confirmed.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV, meanwhile, reported that the Islamic militant group struck an Israeli air base 48 kilometres from the Lebanese border, but the Israeli military denied any of its bases had been hit. That distance would make it the deepest strike by Hezbollah into northern Israel in more than a week of fighting.
Israeli bombers, which had been focusing on Hezbollah strongholds in southern Beirut, also hit a Christian suburb on the eastern side of the capital for the first time. The target was a truck-mounted machine that was used to drill for water but could have been mistaken for a missile launcher. The vehicle was destroyed, but nobody was hurt in that attack.
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=0fd80aa0-bfe1-4b68-a306-70cf819a958d&k=70680
Israeli foreign minister lays out conditions for ceasefire with Hezbollah
Laurie Copans, Canadian Press
Published: Tuesday, July 18, 2006
JERUSALEM (AP) - Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Tuesday Israel would be ready to call a ceasefire with Hezbollah if its captured soldiers are returned, the Lebanese army deploys along the countries' shared border and the future disarmament of Hezbollah can be guaranteed.
After a week of fighting, Livni said the time for diplomacy was at hand, though she added that Israel's military operations would not end until its goals are reached.
"We are beginning a diplomatic process alongside the military operation that will continue," she said. "The diplomatic process is not meant to shorten the window of time of the army's operation but rather is meant to be an extension of it and to prevent a need for future military operations."
Meanwhile, an Associated Press reporter saw rockets strike near the Haifa's port and a railway depot in Israel's third-biggest city.
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=767715c4-18bf-4877-bf06-811259379542&k=31558
Praying for family in Haifa
Montrealers defend choice to stay; 'It means so much for them to know they're not alone and Canada supports them'
Civilians are taken away after a Hezbollah missile strike destroyed a building yesterday in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, wounding six. At least 24 Israelis have been killed and hundreds wounded by the hundreds of rockets and missiles fired in the past week by Hezbollah militants in south Lebanon.
ALAN HUSTAK, The Gazette
Published: Tuesday, July 18, 2006
As Hezbollah rockets struck Haifa again yesterday, many Montrealers expressed concern for the safety of relatives living in the Israeli city, 35 kilometres from the Lebanese border.
Rockets, which also hit other northern towns inside Israel, caused part of a three-storey building in Haifa to collapse. Six people were injured. It was the second day of such strikes from inside Lebanon.
In spite of the deadly attacks, Montrealers say they support the decision of their loved ones in Haifa to remain.
Dalia Meshoulam worked as a paralegal in Montreal before she met her husband, Mordy Preisler, and moved to Haifa 11 years ago.
Meshoulam's daughter, Iris Meshoulam, who had been living with them in Haifa, came back to Montreal last year to take art history at Concordia University. She spoke to her mother and stepfather just after the attack Sunday.
"They're okay, a little frightened but okay," Meshoulam said yesterday.
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=d1278c6b-64a1-47a0-9c97-717cb4442070
'We had no idea it would get so big'
Plans for convention in Lebanon shattered
ROBERTO ROCHA, The Gazette
Published: Tuesday, July 18, 2006
It was only two weeks before the big event that would draw tourists back to Lebanon. The ghosts of the civil war 16 years ago had mostly vanished, and the country was ready to flourish.
Then the bombs fell on Beirut's international airport.
"One day everything was fine," said Frederic Sfeir, the Montreal co-ordinator of Lebanon Expats, an economic development group.
"When they woke up, everything was destroyed."
The Montreal delegation of Lebanon Expats is mostly safe, holed up with family in east Beirut or in the mountains far from Hezbollah's guns. But their hopes of bringing Lebanon back into the world took a devastating blow that will take years to undo.
Close to 6,000 Lebanese expats were expected to meet in Beirut on July 28, the largest such gathering to promote the country to the world.
The ruins from the 15-year civil war were rebuilt and the country's fragile democracy was beginning to take shape.
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=e2455b46-478f-4fad-abca-fdf9c2b26339
Mideast violence spurs oil price rebound
Traders at the New York Mercantile Exchange deal in crude oil futures Monday, July 17, 2006. Crude oil prices plunged more than $1 a barrel Monday on a rumors of moves toward peace in the Middle East and in Iran's nuclear standoff with Western nations.
George Jahn, Associated Press
Published: Tuesday, July 18, 2006
VIENNA -- Oil prices rebounded Tuesday after a steep drop the previous day as continued fighting in the Mideast added jitters to a market already edgy about tight supplies.
Escalating fighting between Israel and militants in Lebanon has no direct effect on oil supplies, but has sparked worries that Iran, a financial backer of Hezbollah and OPEC's No. 2 supplier, could be drawn into the conflict.
The developments come on top of persistent market anxieties about the West's nuclear standoff with Iran, threats of supply disruptions in Nigeria and the Gulf of Mexico hurricane season. U.S. inventory figures, to be published Wednesday were also keeping a relatively high floor under the market, with expectations of drops in gasoline supplies and only a small rise in crude levels.
Light sweet crude for August delivery rose 37 cents to $75.67 US a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe.
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=7fcacbe5-ac92-4e58-9491-f1f2cc7f7eb6&k=94848
British Open breakfast for Tiger
Royal liverpool ripe for picking. Course will probably have its lunch eaten by Woods, top pros if fair weather prevails
CAM COLE, CanWest News Service
Published: Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Hoylake, England - A dozen years ago, Sandy Lyle was asked what he thought of Tiger Woods and replied that he'd never played the course.
This, mind you, was a few years before Tiger owned the game - and at that, it was surely a tongue-in-cheek backhand by the wry Scot, for there couldn't have been anyone in the international golf community who hadn't heard of the teenage sensation by then.
Cut to this month, when Woods was asked what he knew about the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, home of this year's Open Championship.
"All I know is that it's in Liverpool," Tiger said.
Tongue-in-cheek? Wry? Nope.
Just a fairly sizable hole in the theory that Woods has an encyclopedic knowledge of golf history. For not only has Royal Liverpool played host to 10 Opens - though none since 1967, when Argentine Roberto De Vicenzo beat Jack Nicklaus by two shots - but ... well, Tiger knows only one thing about the golf course, and even that is wrong.
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=6f3a2caf-e005-4d6e-85dc-a602342dd2e7&k=74295
Day, Chertoff attempt to ease fears of border restrictions
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff (left) and Public Security Minister Stockwell Day hold a joint press conference at the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald after speaking to a conference in Edmonton.
Mike Sadava, CanWest News Service; Edmonton Journal
Published: Wednesday, July 19, 2006
EDMONTON - U.S. Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff and his Canadian counterpart Stockwell Day assured people from both countries that the new documents required for crossing the border will not impede trade or travel.
Chertoff and Day, Canada's public safety minister, discussed the issue Tuesday twice in Edmonton once during an early morning run and later in a formal meeting.
The requirement for new documents, a piece of American legislation called the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, has been a bone of contention between the two countries. In his recent visit to Washington, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told President George W. Bush that the American obsession with security could threaten the historic ties between the two neighbours.
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=ffd24929-32e5-425c-90ff-c1f935765e7e&k=14313
Global economy moves from West to East
Many investors choose to spread the geographical risk of their overall equity portfolio by investing roughly one-third in Canada, one-third in the U.S., and one-third internationally, in burgeoning economies such as China.
Eric Beauchesne, CanWest News Service
Published: Wednesday, July 19, 2006
OTTAWA - Globally, the engine of economic growth is shifting to the emerging economies of Asia from western industrial nations, a major Canadian bank says.
At the same time, Canada is now being driven by the resource-rich West instead of the industrial heartland in Ontario, Scotiabank says in a sweeping economic report entitled Trading Places.
Over the past decade, Asian economies, led by China and India, havebeen taking over the role as generators of global economic growth from the industrial world. Canada, as a supplier of natural resources, will benefit from the global shift, which has also resulted in a shift in the domestic economy.
''A seismic shift in the global economic landscape has occurred since the mid-1990s,'' it said.
The report was issued Monday as China reported its economy this past spring had expanded by a steamy 11.3 per cent from a year earlier, news that is expected to put pressure on China to raise interest rates and revalue its currency further to slow growth.
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=f4be727f-6870-4ff7-b6cb-4ca535e8e79d&k=32062
Aerospace giants gain altitude
$200 million u.s. in new deals; Bombardier, Pratt & Whitney benefit from demand for fuel-efficient prop planes
Friendly skies: An exhibit poster at the Farnborough International Airshow in southern England showcases jets and prop planes. The air show ends on Sunday.
ROBERT GIBBENS, The Gazette
Published: Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Bombardier Inc. and Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp., Quebec's two biggest aerospace firms, yesterday announced nearly $200 million U.S. of new business, signalling lots more staying power for the three-year-old boom in business jets and the upsurge in orders for fuel-saving turboprop airliners.
Though Canadian firms chalked up relatively few new contracts in the first days of Britain's Farnborough Air Show, compared with billions of dollars of orders for Boeing and Airbus, they will continue to prosper in the post-9/11 world aerospace revival. Canadian aerospace had 2005 sales of $11.1 billion and is expected to gain altitude in 2006.
Bombardier led the way yesterday. Fast-growing Swiss private charter operator VistaJet ordered three Challenger 605 wide-body business jets worth $81 million U.S. and optioned two more. Deliveries start next year after the new 605 completes certification.
The two-year-old VistaJet has an all-Bombardier fleet, including a long-range Global Express, two Challenger 604s and two Learjet 60s and uses Bombardier's SkyJet international charter network.
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=be6299d6-578e-436a-89f8-dc90b097621f&k=23834
Cervical-cancer vaccine okayed for next month
MDs already calling on public health officials for mass immunization campaigns
Patient Brigitte Leclerc joined Simon Sutcliffe (centre) of the B.C. Cancer Agency and Merck Frosst Canada president Andre Marcheterre yesterday after a news conference announcing a new vaccine against human papillomavirus, Gardasil, will be available in Canada. The virus causes cervical cancer, the second most common in the country after breast cancer.
Photograph by : ALLEN MCINNIS, THE GAZETTE
ALLISON LAMPERT, The Gazette
Published: Wednesday, July 19, 2006
A vaccine hailed by doctors as the greatest breakthrough in preventing cervical cancer since the Pap smear will be available in Canada next month.
Gardasil, the first vaccine against the human papillomavirus - the sole cause of cervical cancer - was approved this month by Health Canada, Montreal-based pharmaceutical company Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. said yesterday.
Some doctors are already calling on public health officials to make the vaccine widely available through mass immunization, although such campaigns can take more than a year to organize.
The vaccine "is extremely important for Canadian women and their physicians," said Guylaine Lefebvre, president-elect of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada.
"Over the last 60 years, what we've been able to do is respond to abnormal cells and try to treat them before they become cancer.
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=addd689b-0069-434a-a224-ec258f9b8c23&k=13778
Notorious B.C. serial killer Olson denied parole
PAUL CHERRY, The Gazette
Published: Wednesday, July 19, 2006
In the end, Raymond King's wish did not come true.
For that to happen, Clifford Olson, 66, Canada's most notorious serial killer, would have had to have dropped dead during his first parole hearing yesterday inside the maximum-security penitentiary in this town, about 40 kilometres north of Montreal.
Olson terrorized British Columbia in 1980 and 1981 as he killed 11 young people, including King's son Ray Jr.
Olson was sentenced in 1982 to life in prison after pleading guilty to 11 counts of first-degree murder. He was granted a parole hearing automatically because he will have served 25 years next month.
A three-commissioner panel denied Olson parole after a hearing yesterday that lasted about an hour. They determined he is still too high a risk to kill again.
For King, the notion that a serial killer who has demonstrated no remorse for his victims could have a chance at parole was "completely ridiculous."
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=b5165619-df57-4ab3-b769-913bac061085&k=58396
The Chicago Tribune
Violent storms, deaths blamed on the heat
3 are found dead in their homes
By Brendan McCarthy, Gerry Doyle and Angela Rozas, Tribune staff reporters. Tribune staff reporters Mary Ann Fergus, Dan P. Blake and Russell Working contributed to this report
Published July 19, 2006
Near-100-degree heat that baked the Chicago area was cited as a factor in the deaths of three Cook County women and blamed for violent weather that downed hundreds of trees and left thousands without power Tuesday.
Wednesday and Thursday are expected to be dangerously hot before relief slides into the region in the form of 70- and 80-degree temperatures, forecasters said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/southsouthwest/chi-0607190324jul19,1,7672378.story?coll=chi-newslocalssouthwest-hed
Report: Cops tortured suspects
By Carlos Sadovi and Bob Secter
Tribune staff reporters
Published July 19, 2006, 10:34 AM CDT
Fired Chicago police commander Jon Burge and several officers who served under him tortured criminal suspects in the 1970s and 1980s, but can't be prosecuted because too much time has passed, court-appointed special prosecutors said today.
Concluding a four-year investigation, the prosecutors also said former Chicago Police Supt. Richard Brzeczek was guilty of "dereliction of duty" and acted in bad faith by not acting against Burge and even praising the detectives under his command despite harboring suspicions that the commander had mistreated prisoners.
"There are cases which we believe would justify our seeking indictments for mistreatment of prisoners by Chicago police officers," said the prosecutors, Edward Egan and Robert Boyle. Egan is a former judge and prosecutor while Boyle is a former prosecutor.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-060719burge,1,1155721.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
Activists for illegal immigrants rally, march
Tribune staff report
Published July 19, 2006, 12:40 PM CDT
Police estimate between 3,000 and 5,000 are in the crowd. In contrast, several hundred thousand marched in May. A similar demonstration in March drew about 100,000.
12:37 p.m.: Keeping cool
July 19, 2006
City officials have precautions in place to help demonstrators withstand the heat.
Four Chicago Transit Authority air conditioned buses are parked along the parade route on Jackson Boulevard to act as cooling facilities, Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.
Also, four first aid stations have been erected along Jackson, and an air conditioned first aid tent is set up at Hutchinson Field in Grant Park for the rally.
One fire engine is parked at each first aid station, each with the ability to spray a cool mist of water over the passing marchers.
Firefighters are also equipped with misting nozzles that can be attached to fire hydrants to produce the same effect.
At least 10 ambulances are on standby and about 12 emergency medical technicians are at the ready along the route, Langford said.
As of 12:10 p.m. breezy conditions provided relief to temperatures in the 80s, and no medical incidents had been reported, Langford said. "The heat is rising though," he added.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-060719immigration-march,1,1186831.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Terkel wins peace prize
The Associated Press
Published July 19, 2006, 6:50 AM CDT
DAYTON, Ohio -- Chicago-based writer and oral historian Studs Terkel has been awarded the first Dayton Literary Peace Prize, an outgrowth of the Dayton Peace Prize that commemorates the 1995 agreement that ended the war in Bosnia.
Terkel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who's also worked in radio and television, is known for his ability to interview people and tell their stories.
His books include ``Working,'' in which Americans talk about their jobs; ``Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession;'' and ``Coming of Age,'' recollections of men and women 70 and older.
``Certainly he has expressed his great pleasure in receiving the award,'' said Sharon Rab, chairwoman for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. ``We are quite hopeful that if he is in good health that he will be here to receive the award.''
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-060719terkel,1,395774.story?coll=chi-news-hed
3 Heavy Explosions Heard in Beirut
By Associated Press
Published July 19, 2006, 1:24 PM CDT
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Three heavy explosions were heard in Beirut soon after nightfall Wednesday -- apparently new Israeli strikes on Hezbollah's stronghold in the capital's southern neighborhoods. The sound of the blasts came from Dahiya, the southern district that has been heavily bombarded for days, often in the early evening.
Hezbollah's headquarters, already flattened by strikes, is located in Dahiya, a crowded Shiite neighborhood, where many of the residents have already fled elsewhere for refuge.
In other developments Wednesday, Israeli troops clashed with Hezbollah guerrillas on the Lebanese side of the border, while Lebanon's prime minister reported a death toll of 300 and demanded compensation from Israel for the "unimaginable losses" to the nation's infrastructure.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-lebanon-israel,1,3785474.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Bush Blocked Eavesdropping Program Probe
By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press Writer
Published July 19, 2006, 6:12 AM CDT
WASHINGTON -- President Bush personally blocked a Justice Department investigation of the anti-terror eavesdropping program that intercepts Americans' international calls and e-mails, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday.
Bush refused to grant security clearances for department investigators who were looking into the role Justice lawyers played in crafting the program, under which the National Security Agency listens in on telephone calls and reads e-mail without court approval, Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Without access to the sensitive program, the department's Office of Professional Responsibility closed its investigation in April.
"It was highly classified, very important and many other lawyers had access. Why not OPR?" Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the committee chairman, asked Gonzales.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-eavesdropping-gonzales,1,2989948.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Athletes gain an edge over HIV
By Miriah Meyer
Tribune staff reporter
Published July 19, 2006
Brian Devin has been HIV-positive for almost two decades. The five pills a day that he swallows cause bad dreams, anemia and fatigue. At the slightest sign of a cold, he restricts himself to bed rest and dining in.
Yet on weekends the tall and wiry athlete can be found running 18 to 20 miles a day on his hometown streets of San Francisco, pushing through the pain and exhaustion that are inherent to marathon training. In the Gay Games marathon Saturday, Devin hopes to cover the 26.2-mile course in under 3 1/2 hours.
"Running helps me realize that right now, today, I'm healthy," said Devin, 50. "And that's the biggest thing, because in a few years I may not be able to do this."
While many athletes at the Gay Games endure similarly tiresome training, those with HIV also deal with the effects of powerful drugs and the knowledge that they carry an incurable disease. But Devin and others said their passion for sports not only keeps their bodies fit but also serves as a reminder there is still life to live.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0607190032jul19,1,2637272.story?coll=chi-news-hed
The Arab majority may not stay silent
By Youssef M. Ibrahim
The New York Sun
Published July 19, 2006
Yes, world, there is a silent Arab majority that believes that 7th Century Islam is not fit for 21st Century challenges.
That women do not have to look like walking black tents. That men do not have to wear beards and robes, act like lunatics and run around blowing themselves up in order to enjoy 72 virgins in paradise. And that secular laws, not Islamic Shariah, should rule our day-to-day lives.
And yes, we, the silent Arab majority, do not believe that writers, secular or otherwise, should be killed or banned for expressing their views. Or that the rest of our creative elite--from moviemakers to playwrights, actors, painters, sculptors and fashion models--should be vetted by Neanderthal Muslim imams who have never read a book in their dim, miserable lives.
Nor do we believe that little men with head wraps and disheveled beards can run amok in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq, making decisions on our behalf, dragging us to war whenever they please, confiscating our rights to be adults, and flogging us for not praying five times a day or even for not believing in God.
More important, we are not silent any longer.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0607190149jul19,1,7273183.story?coll=chi-opinionfront-hed
Cruise Ship Investigation Is Planned
By BRIAN SKOLOFF
Associated Press Writer
Published July 19, 2006, 12:59 PM CDT
PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In an instant, passengers aboard The Crown Princess cruise ship went from sunbathing to clutching whatever they could as the massive ship rolled heavily to its side, throwing everything not nailed down against the deck and walls.
"Another 20 degrees and I would have been in the water," said Alfred Caproni, of North Adams, Mass., who was on his balcony on the ninth deck. "All the water from the pools was coming right over the edge. It was like Niagara Falls."
The Crown Princess was 11 1/2 miles southeast of Port Canaveral en route to New York late Tuesday afternoon when its crew reported problems with the steering equipment and the 113,000-ton ship listed hard to one side, Coast Guard Petty Officer James Judge said.
It slowly came back up, leaving a scene of terrified passengers scattered across its decks, halls and casino, then headed for the port.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/sns-ap-cruise-ship,1,1361446.story?coll=chi-homepagetravel-hed
Hot Dog! Visiting Mustard Museum is a golden opportunity
By Patrick T. Reardon
Tribune staff reporter
Published July 18, 2006
MT. HOREB, Wis. -- Saw the sign while barreling along U.S. Highway 18 -- "Mustard Museum." Had to turn off and see.
Mustard Museum?
Color scheme -- yellow, of course. Even down to the highly buffed blond wood floor of the former hardware store. Officially, the Mt. Horeb Mustard Museum.
Entered the doorway at 100 W. Main St. into the commercial (rent-paying) half of the operation, where 450 to 500 types of mustard were on sale along with a full array of jokey T-shirts, caps, toilet seats, surgical scrubs, playing cards, sweatshirts and diplomas for Poupon U. (Nudge, nudge.)
Turned left and found the portion of the storefront set aside for the museum -- 4,678 mustards in the collection as well as hundreds of antique mustard pots, mustard ads ("It Burns Out Pain"), mustard plasters (long a medicinal remedy), mustard literature (Shakespeare: "What say you to a piece of beef and mustard?"), a human-size mustard bottle suit and other mustard memorabilia.
Lot of mustard here.
Met Barry Levenson, former assistant attorney general for the state of Wisconsin who left law in 1991 to turn his private collection of mustards into this museum. Expert in food law. Met his wife, Patti, at a mustard-tasting.
Told me he got into mustard collecting as a way to break through his depression over the Boston Red Sox loss in the 1986 World Series. Whatever works.
Said, "I want people to appreciate mustard."
Said, "I wanted to create something that was an escape from all the negative things people have to put up with in life."
Said the museum gets 30,000 to 40,000 visitors a year -- 3,000 of them on the first Saturday in August, National Mustard Day.
Showed off the museum's latest acquisition, a jar of tri-mustard from the Delafield Brewhaus in southeastern Wisconsin.
Time to get back on the road. But, first, a stop in the museum restroom.
The liquid soap on the sink? Inside an old yellow French's mustard bottle.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-0607180235jul18,1,578023.story?coll=chi-homepagetravel-hed
New Zealand Herald
Ozone hole kills sea life, says scientist
Thursday July 20, 2006
The ozone hole over Antarctica is having a bigger impact on life than realised, scientists believe.
The layer, 24km above Earth, acts as a shield against ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
An annual thinning of the ozone over Antarctica allows significantly more UV light to reach the ocean and damage DNA.
New Scientist magazine reported yesterday that an analysis of east Antarctic waters had shown that high levels of UV light could significantly reduce phytoplankton blooms.
These microscopic plant cells at the bottom of the food chain provide food for zooplankton, tiny marine animals that are eaten by more than 50 species of seabirds and by fish and sea mammals ranging from sardines to whales.
"If you have a substantial reduction in the amount of plant material, that's going to have all sorts of knock-on effects for the rest of the food web," said Andrew Davidson, of the Australian Antarctic Division in Kingston, Tasmania.
His team studied the marginal ice zone around Antarctica, which produces between a quarter and two-thirds of the Southern Ocean's phytoplankton.
The team used satellite data to study levels of chlorophyll, an indicator of phytoplankton levels, and ozone concentration in five regions during November and December, from 1997 to 2000.
They considered only data for periods when there were at least six cloudless days out of 10.
Total chlorophyll increased, as expected, but when ozone levels thinned, chlorophyll accumulation fell.
Dr Davidson said it had been difficult to pinpoint the effect of UV, because the amount of plant material in Antarctic waters varied by up to 25 per cent from year to year.
The findings have been challenged by an American scientist, who said average chlorophyll concentrations in Antarctic waters under the ozone hole had not changed since the late 1970s.
Kevin Arrigo, associate professor of geophysics at Stanford University in California, said: "This suggests to me that the ozone hole is having very little impact on overall chlorophyll concentrations in the Antarctic."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10392054
Worst may be still to come for frozen farms
Thursday July 20, 2006
By Jarrod Booker
Blair Gallagher's mid-Canterbury farm is sodden and strewn with broken trees. His sheep are weakened and his stock feed supplies dwindling after weeks of relentless snow and freezing temperatures.
He does not like to complain. But he worries about what else winter has in store.
"We have got through to this point, but I think probably the major concern for most people is that really we are just coming into winter, and traditionally we get most of our snow in July and August," said Mr Gallagher.
"The real crunch is from now on really."
Mr Gallagher's 719ha sheep and cattle farm, Rangiatea, 530m above sea level, was in the path of the paralysing snowstorm that struck on June 12. The farm lost power for nine days and its phone connection for five days as 80cm of snow fell.
A bulldozer and helicopter helped free stranded sheep and get feed to them. Hard work and manpower and support from Federated Farmers ensured there were minimal stock losses.
Four more smaller dumps of snow have come since June 12. The snow is now mostly cleared, turning paddocks into mud.
Mr Gallagher was forced to use one-and-a-half years' worth of stock feed in just four weeks after the June 12 snowstorm.
He has had to buy in hay, but worries about how much more will be available.
The Government may provide some financial help, which Mr Gallagher does not like asking for, "but I think there probably is a need for some sort of assistance".
His anxiety will not ease until after the lambing season in September-October.
For now, he must try to replace the weight lost by his ewes and ensure they produce healthy lambs. "If we can't, we are basically in all sorts of trouble."
The forecast
* The MetService yesterday issued a heavy rain warning for Coromandel Peninsula, western Bay of Plenty, Hawkes Bay and Tararua district.
* A low crossing the North Island will bring wind-driven rain to eastern and southern parts of the North Island and Marlborough. "Between now and Saturday we will be having a real dose of mid-winter weather," said the MetService's Bob McDavitt.
* Bitter southerlies will bring snow to sea level in the south on Friday and the central and southeastern North Island on Saturday.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10392116
At least 130 killed in Korean floods
Wednesday July 19, 2006
SEOUL, Korea - At least 129 people have died in North and South Korea as a result of flooding and landslides over the last few days, according to officials and a leading international relief agency.
In secretive North Korea, over 100 people died and thousands of people were left homeless, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said, citing reports.
At least 29 people have been killed and another 32 are missing in South Korea after a week of torrential rain, officials said.
In the last four days, a storm dumped more than 50cm of rain in some eastern provinces of South Korea, killing at least 19 people, the National Emergency Management Agency said.
The storm, coming on the back of Typhoon Ewiniar which slammed into the Korean peninsula a few days earlier, washed away parts of highways, flooded subway stations and caused Seoul's Han River to spill over its banks.
Tens of thousands of buildings have lost power and thousands of families have been evacuated from their homes, it said.
Officials estimated the cost of the damage at more than 300 billion won ($490 million) by July 13, adding the final cost would certainly rise.
The Federation said that farmland had been inundated, wiping out much of the coming harvest in the North Korean provinces of Pyongan, North Hwanghe and Kangwon.
"In some remote areas, whole villages have been swept away and essential public services, such as healthcare clinics, have been destroyed," said Jaap Timmer, the Federation's head of delegation in the North Korean capital.
"There has also been widespread damage to roads and bridges, which has left many people displaced or stranded," he added in a statement.
North Korea said in an official media report over the weekend that it been hit hard by the storms.
"Agricultural and other sectors of the national economy and people's living were badly damaged by heavy rains in some areas," its KCNA news agency reported.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10392025
Return to sender? Not likely
Thursday July 20, 2006
By Jon Stokes
A small band of stamp collectors are sitting on what could be a million-dollar windfall, after banned Maori stamps were sent out by accident.
The stamps, with a face value of 45c and up, are now worth hundreds of dollars apiece.
New Zealand Post has admitted that more than 500 of the cartoon-style stamps, depicting Maori in kapa haka stances, were issued by mistake.
Ivor Masters, NZ Post stamps and collectibles general manager, said eight customers had received the stamps before the issue date.
He urged those who ordered the stamps and got them through "human error", to return them to NZ Post.
"We have withdrawn the whole issue, an error occurred. We want all the product to be destroyed."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10392127
Room where teacher bashed 'should be removed'
4.00pm Tuesday July 18, 2006
The principal of the Tokoroa school where teacher Lois Dear was murdered says he would like to see the classroom she died in removed.
Ms Dear, 66, was found dead in her Strathmore Primary School classroom on Sunday.
She had suffered head injuries and police are awaiting results of an autopsy being done in Auckland today to determine whether a weapon was involved.
Teachers and parents involved with the 280-pupil school this morning met at the local St Luke's Community Centre.
Afterwards, principal Murray Kendrick said many people would be apprehensive about the classroom in question being used to teach in again and would be happy to see it go.
"If I was a teacher in that room I would feel a bit spooky about it, I'm sorry. And I suspect our parents would feel a bit uncomfortable with having their children in that room as well with what has gone on," he told National Radio.
A relief teacher has been appointed to fill in for Ms Dear and investigation head Detective Inspector Garth Bryan said the school would be ready to reopen tomorrow following scene investigations.
Police investigating the case have also been focusing on the discovery of Ms Dear's blue Toyota Corolla car, found behind a church in Tokoroa after it was taken from the school on Sunday.
"In particular, we want to hear about sightings of that vehicle, who may have been driving it and who may have dumped it behind the church."
Mr Bryan said the car was being examined today and police were keen to see what was revealed.
He said police were continuing to talk to locals and were keen to hear from anyone who may have information that could relate to the case.
- NZPA
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10391837
Pupil counsellors 'very carefully' chosen for team
Thursday July 20, 2006
By Juliet Rowan
The five Ministry of Education trauma counsellors at Strathmore School are part of a 20-strong trauma team that covers the central North Island.
The ministry's regional manager, Jean Smith, said trauma team members needed to be calm, able to cope with pressure, and empathetic.
"We choose very carefully who we put on the team," she said.
"You need to be very much a person who can quickly develop good trust relationships with people."
The five women on the trauma team working at Strathmore all have a specialist teaching background, working with children with disabilities, severe behavioural problems, or speech and language difficulties.
They have also done the training required by the ministry to do trauma work, which begins with watching experienced trauma teams in action.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10392121
School finds courage to carry on
Thursday July 20, 2006
By Juliet Rowan
Courage. It is the word Lois Dear's colleagues discovered on her blackboard when they went in to retrieve what they needed for her students to begin class yesterday without her.
Virtues are part of the curriculum at Strathmore School and now, in the wake of her murder, the one Ms Dear chose to focus on has taken on a special resonance for her fellow staff, pupils and the rest of Tokoroa.
"It just seemed that that was a really appropriate message coming from her for our community," principal Murray Kendrick said yesterday.
Mr Kendrick said finding the word on the board after the classroom had been blessed and police allowed staff in had felt like a message about "needing the courage to carry on, to be there for her and everybody else".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10392122
Rise in child abuse and neglect cases
Thursday July 20, 2006
The number of children coming to the attention of Child Youth and Family (CYF) has increased by more than 50 per cent in the past three years.
Answers to parliamentary questions from Act MP Heather Roy show 16,173 children received attention from CYF in the year to June 30, up from 10,763 in 2003.
Mrs Roy said despite the Government pouring money into CYF, child abuse and neglect cases appeared to be rising. "It is more dangerous than ever to be a child in New Zealand," she said.
CYF officials have previously said the rises resulted partly from increased resources, allowing them to intervene in more cases where children were at risk.
CYF Minister Ruth Dyson said part of the rise in abuse and neglect notifications could be put down to early identification of problems by social workers.
Part could also be the result of less tolerance of abuse by the public after high-profile child murders.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10392118
'Evacuated' New Zealanders still in Lebanon
UPDATED 6.45pm Tuesday July 18, 2006
Three New Zealanders who were earlier believed to have been evacuated from Lebanon to escape the Israeli bombardment, are still in Lebanon according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Helen Clark had told reporters earlier today she had been advised of their evacuation by Defence Minister Phil Goff.
But a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said this evening they were still in Lebanon.
She says there is no way of knowing if or when they might be evacuated, as that will depend on Britain's plans.
She believes the three New Zealanders are in a high priority group for medical reasons as it is understood one woman is pregnant.
A number of Western countries, including France, have been working on the evacuation of their citizens.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs believed there were between 35 and 40 New Zealanders in the country.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10391820
Bush and Blair's chat caught by microphone [video report]
Tuesday July 18, 2006
ST PETERSBURG, Russia - A microphone has picked up an unaware US President George Bush saying Syria should press Hizbollah to "stop doing this shit" as he and Tony Blair discussed the upsurge in violence in the Middle East.
Bush, who also mentioned a sweater Blair had given him, was talking privately to the British PM during a lunch at the Group of Eight summit in St Petersburg.
Neither immediately realised a microphone was transmitting their candid thoughts.
"I think Condi (Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice) is going to go (to the Middle East) pretty soon," Bush said.
Blair replied: "Right, that's all that matters, it will take some time to get that together."
Blair added: "See, if she (Rice) goes out she's got to succeed as it were, where as I can just go out and talk."
Bush replied: "See, the irony is what they need to do is get Syria to get Hizbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over."
While his language was salty, the message from Bush was what it had been throughout the summit - that Syria is supporting Hizbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon and should force them to stop shelling Israel and return abducted Israeli soldiers.
Bush also seemed to complain about UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan wanting an immediate cease-fire to stop the violence between Israel and Hizbollah.
"I don't like the sequence of it," Bush said. "His attitude is basically cease-fire and everything else happens."
Blair said: "I think the thing that is really difficult is you can't stop this unless you get this international presence agreed."
Nice sweater
The two leaders also appeared to chat about the stalled Doha Round of world trade talks.
"I just want some movement," Bush said, to which Blair replied: "It may be that it's impossible." Later, plans were announced for ministers from six key trade powers to meet in Geneva from Monday to try to unblock the talks.
Ultimately Blair noticed the microphone and hastily switched it off, but not before the recording had reached news media.
In the chummy conversation between long-time allies, Bush teased the British leader about a sweater Blair had apparently given him.
"Thanks for the sweater, it was awfully thoughtful of you. I know you picked it out yourself," Bush said.
"Oh, absolutely," said Blair.
Bush also said that when he next spoke to G8 leaders, he would keep it brief. "I'm not going to talk too long like the rest of them. Some of these guys talk too long. Gotta go home. Got something to do tonight," he said.
- REUTERS
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10391789
Foreign nations gear up efforts to get citizens out
Thursday July 20, 2006
Many evacuees designated "foreigners" have dual nationality.
Israel has agreed with Western attaches for a large exodus of evacuees today, involving 20 vessels. Seven left on Wednesday and two on Tuesday.
The United Nations and its agencies are pulling non-essential staff and family members. Relief workers are staying and more are going in.
Canada: 40,000 citizens
Government has still not removed any of its citizens. Prime Minister Stephen Harper yesterday was "hopeful" an evacuation would begin "in earnest very quickly". The Toronto Star quoted Harper as saying Canada was not a large country and lacked transport to move large numbers quickly.
Philippines: 30,000
Government preparing to evacuate thousands of workers, mostly domestic helpers, by sea to Cyprus or by road to Syria. Advising those at risk to relocate to church about 8km north of Beirut, where 200 Filipinos had sought shelter.
Australia: 25,000
Government has evacuated 186 nationals to Syria. Officials hoping to charter ship to evacuate up to 600 more today. Officials yesterday told citizens they were trying to organise ships "over the next few days". Some Australians may be able to leave on ships organised by allies as well as on ferries Government looking to secure.
United States: 25,000
About 1000 citizens boarding Orient Queen cruise ship overnight for Cyprus. About 320 left by helicopter and ship yesterday. Nine US military ships to evacuate more than 2400 today, the first big group of up to 8000 the Pentagon expects to bring out. The ships include a helicopter carrier and dock landing ship manned by Marines.
Britain: 22,000
Conintgent includes about 10,000 people with dual nationality. Destroyer HMS Gloucester took 180 priority evacuees to British military bases on Cyprus. Six ships to start moving citizens, with around 5000 to be evacuated in next two days. HMS York off Lebanon coast, to be joined by HMS St Albans, supply ship HMS Bulwark and aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious.
France: 20,000
About 8000 French citizens trying to flee Lebanon. Greek cruise ship sent by France evacuated more than 800 citizens and more than 100 other Europeans and Americans to Cyprus on Tuesday. The sickest and weakest being flown to Paris with medical assistance. French Defence Ministry sending 800 military personnel, transport ship, frigate, transport planes and helicopters. French Health Ministry and Red Cross providing medical teams for French and other European evacuees in Lebanon, Cyprus and at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Other Nations:
Norwegian ferry picked up Americans, Swedes, Norwegians and others and dropped them in Cyprus. Greek Navy frigate arrived in Cyprus yesterday, carrying 400 Europeans. Spanish Air Force flew 113 people out of Syria, with 152 others transported from Jordan. Russia sent aircraft to pick up citizens and nationals from neighbouring former Soviet states. Denmark, Poland and Bulgaria hired buses to ferry nationals and Czechs and Slovaks to Damascus. German evacuees were flown from Damascus to Duesseldorf in joint operation between airline LTU and German Foreign Ministry.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10392114
Rocket barrage rains fear in dozen towns
Thursday July 20, 2006
HAIFA - A fresh Hizbollah rocket barrage across a swathe of northern Israel killed one person and wounded at least 14 others, medics said.
A man in the town of Nahariya was killed just after he had helped some of his family into a bomb shelter and was returning for others when a Katyusha hit him, Israeli media said.
Eli Bein, director of the Magen David Adom ambulance service, said the sight was reminiscent of the scenes of suicide bombings as the rocket hit the man directly. "It is a terrible sight," he told Army Radio.
Rockets hit at least 12 towns and villages, including four in Haifa and at least two in Tiberias. Also hit were Safed, Acre, Kiryat Shemona, and Gush Halav region near Safed.
Israeli military officials say more than 700 Hizbollah rockets have now landed in Israel since the crisis began, killing 13 Israelis.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10392113
Apartheid 'ensured Germanic conquest'
Thursday July 20, 2006
By Steve Connor
LONDON - A form of apartheid was practised in Britain in the 5th century which enabled a small invading force of Anglo-Saxons from northern Europe to achieve numerical and cultural supremacy over the indigenous Celts.
A study has found that a social system that prevented intermarriage between the richer Anglo-Saxons and the poorer Celts could explain why Britain speaks English rather than a Gaelic language.
It could also explain why the vast majority of British men today possess a male sex chromosome that derives from an Anglo-Saxon ancestor rather than from a Celt, said geneticist Mark Thomas at University College London.
The study found how a relatively small immigrant population of Anglo-Saxons from Germany, Denmark and Scandinavia could quickly manage to outnumber the bigger indigenous population of Britons, Thomas said.
"The native Britons were genetically and culturally absorbed by the Anglo-Saxons over a period of as little as a few hundred years.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10392104
Bush blocked review of spy programme
1.00pm Wednesday July 19, 2006
WASHINGTON - US President George W Bush prevented an investigation earlier this year by Justice Department ethics lawyers of his warrantless domestic spying programme, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has testified.
Gonzales told the US Senate Judiciary Committee, however, that he was confident the programme's constitutionality would be upheld in a proposed review by a secret federal court.
Gonzales said Bush refused to give the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility access to the classified programme begun shortly after the September 11 attacks and disclosed in December by The New York Times.
The office announced in May it was unable to conduct an investigation into the role department lawyers had in developing the National Security Agency's eavesdropping programme, which targets overseas telephone calls and emails of Americans with suspected terrorists ties.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10391996
FBI eyes Hizbollah in US as tensions with Iran rise
1.00pm Wednesday July 19, 2006
NEW YORK - The FBI is trying to ferret out possible Hizbollah agents in the United States amid concerns that rising US-Iranian tensions could trigger attacks on American soil, FBI officials said.
Relations between Washington and Tehran, which soured after the 1979 Islamic revolution, have deteriorated further recently over Iran's nuclear programme and its support for Hizbollah, the militant Islamic group whose capture of two Israeli soldiers last week prompted Israel to launch retaliatory strikes in Lebanon.
American law enforcement officials are concerned the Lebanon-based Hizbollah, which has so far focused on fund-raising and other support activities inside the United States, could turn to violence in solidarity with Iran.
"If the situation escalates, will Hizbollah take the gloves off, so to speak, and attack here in the United States, which they've been reluctant to do until now?" said William Kowalski, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI in Detroit.
Detroit is home to one of the largest Muslim communities in the United States.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10391974
UN works on draft to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions
1.00pm Wednesday July 19, 2006
UNITED NATIONS - Major powers began work today on a UN Security Council resolution that would demand Iran suspend uranium enrichment as well as temporarily halt construction on a reactor that can produce plutonium.
The draft under consideration is an updated version of one introduced by the United States, Britain and France in early May but never adopted. It includes threats of sanctions to curb Iran's nuclear program, which the West fears is a prelude to bomb-making.
The text will also set a date, not yet determined but possibly within 30 days, for Iran to comply, according to one Western participant in the closed-door talks.
Today's meeting included Germany and the five Security Council members with veto power - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, the main negotiators on Iran.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10392016
Rush-hour Mumbai stops to remember blast dead
1.10pm Wednesday July 19, 2006
MUMBAI - Millions of people in Mumbai stopped all conversation, traffic came to a halt and cinemas interrupted films on Tuesday as the Indian city observed a short silence in memory of 182 people killed in last week's bombings.
Sirens blared at key landmarks in the country's financial capital at 6.25pm coinciding with the time of the first of seven synchronised bomb explosions last Tuesday - bringing trains, buses, motorcycles and cars to a stop.
President A.P.J Abdul Kalam, his hand raised to his forehead in salute, led the two-minute condolence as people lit candles and laid wreaths at the Mahim station, one of the seven places on the city's suburban rail network hit by bombs.
Thousands of people lay bunches of roses and tulips at the blast sites along the busy railway network that runs like a spine through the city of some 17 million people by the Arabian Sea.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10392018
Killings stir fears of Congo election violence
Wednesday July 19, 2006
KINSHASA - Gunmen have killed up to seven people at an election rally in eastern Congo in an attack which revived fears that violence could disrupt the country's historic polls later this month.
The unidentified gunmen opened fire on the rally on Monday afternoon near Rutshuru in Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province, where marauding bands of rebels and militias still terrorize the civilian population.
The former Belgian colony holds its first free multiparty polls in four decades on July 30, but violence still grips many parts of the vast central African country despite the presence of the world's biggest United Nations peacekeeping force.
The candidate who had staged the rally that was attacked fled to Uganda in fear of his life and other local candidates said they were asking the UN for protection.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10392023
Three quakes shake Indonesia, China and Pakistan
Thursday July 20, 2006
Three earthquakes last night shook Indonesia, China and the Pakistan-Iran border.
The Indonesian quake was the largest, at 6.2 on the Richter scale at its epicentre in the Indian Ocean off the southwestern tip of Java. In China, a moderate shake, of around 5.6, hit Qinghai province. And a magnitude 5.1 quake struck the Pakistan-Iran border, about 1200km west of the northwestern city of Peshawar.
There were no immediate reports of injuries in any of the quake areas.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10392124
New Sky TV satellite to combat rain fade
Thursday July 20, 2006
By Errol Kiong
Sky TV is promising more channels and less rain fade as the replacement for its ageing satellite gets set for a September launch.
Optus, the company which provides the satellite service for Sky, yesterday confirmed receiving the new D1 satellite from its American manufacturer, Orbital Sciences Corporation.
The D1 is scheduled for a September launch from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, via an Ariane 5 launcher.
The announcement comes as Auckland users yesterday experienced a day of intermittent service due to bad weather.
Sky TV spokesman Tony O'Brien said the new satellite would deliver greater capacity, and "more power", which would make rain fades less frequent.
The new satellite is expected to boost the pay-TV network's capacity by 25 per cent to a total of 75 channels. Mr O'Brien said customers would not notice the switch in satellites.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10392115
EU aims to close down 'divorce shopping'
Thursday July 20, 2006
BRUSSELS - The European Commission has unveiled plans to end the widespread practice of "divorce shopping", where one separating spouse rushes to court before the other to exploit advantageous laws in a particular country.
Under proposals, rules would be laid out to make clear which legal system would administer the growing number of "international divorcees". With 25 different legal systems in the EU, divorcing couples often find themselves in a legal morass. Problems are common for spouses of different nationality, those who have separated and live in two countries or those who are abroad.
New rules would allow couples to choose which of the legal systems to which they have ties they prefer to use. If they cannot agree, EU regulations would use a scale of "connecting factors" to determine the country to which the couple had strongest ties. Officials are also looking at adopting a similar plan for division of property rights during international divorces.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10392110
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